Ten Freightliner eCascadia electric semi-trucks have been added to Sysco’s fleet in Houston, Texas. With the addition of these trucks, the company’s fleet of electric vehicles now stands at 120, and hundreds more are planned.
Sysco Corp. signed a statement of intent with Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) to deploy almost 800 battery-electric Class 8 tractors by 2026, while several commercial fleets are still testing one electric truck or preparing to install tens of them in the coming years.
If you think that’s an exciting number, just wait. “Our actual stated public goal is to electrify 35% of our US broad line fleet,” said Marie Robinson, chief supply chain officer, Sysco Corp. “So [the real number is] more like 2,500 electric trucks by 2030.”
“The scale of our EV deployment today is the result of years of planning and tremendous levels of cross-industry collaboration,” adds Dan Purefoy, Sysco’s Chief Supply Chain Officer and someone who has very likely studied the economic impacts of the company’s existing 120 electric vehicle fleet over the last few years.
Even if the exact 2500 electric trucks that will be included are still unknown, Sysco appears to have already received at least one Tesla Semi. There are currently 800 eCascadias in the final count. It is noteworthy to mention that Sysco declared that it had booked 50 trucks from Tesla during the initial 2017 launch of Tesla Semi.